`88 Sedan track car build - here's Siobhan! Made the front page of Jalopnik!

[Lof8]

It seems I haven't posted in here yet. In for updates to my twin!

[jaywood]

Anymore info on your cluster? Looking good!

[kingston]

It seems I haven't posted in here yet. In for updates to my twin!

Hah! Updates will be coming in early January. Thanks for the info you PM'd me about the brake rotors. I think I may try the HD rotors, if money allows. Curious as to what pads you're using for the track, too...

Anymore info on your cluster? Looking good!

None yet. That project has been on hold, since I managed to nail both my oil pans on the DD & on Siobhan within about a 2-week span of time. That took a little time & funds away from the cluster swap. In early February, I'm going to be adding the Stack Clubman tach to the panel, as well as the other gauges. I've been looking at wiring threads, since that's a serious weakness of mine. I think, since I'm going to be tackling a job like this for the 1st time, I'm going to get a little crazy and buy some serious Milspec connectors, wiring tools, etc. We'll see. That part is daunting for me, to say the least!

[kingston]

Got a couple of the parts today that I'd ordered from Levent at Guten Parts.


AKG front swaybar reinforcement tabs. I already have the rears on. These will be installed when I install the new oil pan & baffle, and the AKG Motor Mounts. Speaking of...


These are the Poly motor mounts made specifically for the 24V E30 swaps. I used the green E28 motor mounts initially, but I'm already seeing cracking on them. I never meant for them to be a full-time solution, and for a track car, they certainly won't do. The AKGs were $200, but I consider them to be well worth the money.

More soon!

[kingston]

More parts are on the way from Levent at Guten Parts! The manual window regulators he ordered from me from Germany will be here by Friday. That will allow me to get rid of more of the superfluous wiring in the bay :)

My new race shifter should be here by then as well. Can't wait!!

[kingston]

Something wicked arrived at my house today!

This is my new race shifter, made by a semi-local guy.

This has a VERY short throw, and, like the AKG piece, it bolts directly to the transmission tunnel, eliminating the need for a shifter arm and it's associated bushings. The result is a VERY precise feel!

This had been on our Team's Chump Car E30, but a couple of the more, um, mature, gents couldn't come to grips with it. So my wife bought it from them for me for Christmas. Because she's awesome like that :)


Can't wait to pop it on, hopefully this weekend!

[kingston]

A couple of updates for today...

This arrived:

What's in the box?! What's in the box?!

Direct from BMW Germany...



My front manual window regulators for the `88 sedan. Now I can lose a bunch of the extra wiring in the car that's been annoying me. The rear windows will simply be inoperable; no need for them to be able to roll up & down, since there will be no rear seats...

I also dropped the new oil pan off at Noland Head in downtown Kansas City so they could weld in the oil pan baffle I bought from Levent at Guten Parts.

Much to do, and hopefully nice updates after this weekend. Stay tuned!!!

[kingston]

Day 2 of prepping Siobhan...
Power window regulators are out of both front doors

Manual regulators will go into the doors on Tuesday

The new shifter is in!

I can't wait to use the new race shifter on track again :)

My friend Bob has almost finished welding up the holes in the floor pan. We still have to rust treat/seam seal & paint them up then apply the rubber undercoating. But we're getting there!

This was the biggest hole. Actually what happened is that the removable drain behind the front passenger seat had the metal around it rust away, so we just welded in a metal sheet. Easy peasy!

More soon!!

[kingston]

A couple of shots I forgot from today...

Bob welded up the AKG swaybar mounting reinforcement tabs on the front subframe today.

If I bend or break these suckers now, it means I've driven off of a cliff!

Here's a shot of how the cabin looked yesterday after I pulled the wiring harness. Getting there!

And a BIG thanks to Bob Buxbaum for the welding, use of his air tools & comfy heated garage!!!!

[e30m3s54turbo]

Richard, I like the shifter!!!!

[Jb325is]

Shifter looks great! I hate a AKG DTM which is similar and the feel is amazing, it helped my timing a lot. Unfortunately my car doesn't pass the GF test with it, which could be a good thing.

How much were those manual regulators? I'd love to do that, the window switch wiring pisses me off

[kingston]

Richard, I like the shifter!!!!

Thanks Raul! It's a fantastic piece of kit, and I'm thrilled to have it in Showy :) I am planning on trying to get a group buy going on them, as the guy who made it said he'd need to make about 10 to have it make sense for him. Total cost of the shifter for a group buy would be a paltry $150!

Shifter looks great! I hate a AKG DTM which is similar and the feel is amazing, it helped my timing a lot. Unfortunately my car doesn't pass the GF test with it, which could be a good thing.

How much were those manual regulators? I'd love to do that, the window switch wiring pisses me off

I'd always planned on getting an AKG piece, but I actually prefer the mounting design of this one over the AKG shifter.

The manual window regulators ran me $130-ish shipped with some of the mounting nuts & bolts. I already had the window crank handles, so the $130 doesn't include them. The regulators had to come from Germany, so they took a little bit. A big thanks to Levent at Guten Parts for sorting them out for me!

My buddy Bob kept at repairing the rust holes in the floor pan today. Everything is welded up, the welds are ground down, and he's applied seam sealer around the outside of all the welds. We'll paint the panels and put new rubber undercoating...under the car. (Where else would you put it?)


The white spots on the car are the patch panels with the seam sealer applied.
Hoping to have her all buttoned up Wednesday!!

More soon...

[kingston]

A couple of little updates today...

After a comedy of errors, the new oil pan is on, and leak-free...at least, thus far.

The AKG 24V swap motor mounts are in.

The driver's side manual window regulator is installed.

The front ride height has been raised a touch.

The patch panels on the floor have been painted.

Tomorrow we will pop the passenger-side manual window regulator in, put the front door cards back on and do an alignment.

Then I get to drive her again!!!! Woot!

here's a slightly better pic than what I've had yesterday.

[kingston]

I'm a bit under the weather today, so no MAJOR updates to report. However, the manual window regulators are in, and the door cards are back on. She still needs a good scrubbing, both inside & out, but here's how she sits as of now...




I still need to get longer front brake lines for a better with the Massive BBK, and to replace the windshield. Um, and to put an E30 reverse switch on the transmission. The DTM-styled gauge cluster project won't move forward unitl my bonus check arrives in mid-April. Other than that, when it warms up I'll put the Toyos on the wheels & DRIVE!!

I'm on the hunt for a set of nice 16x8 track wheels for Siobhan, too, if anybody has anything. I don't want junk wheels, but something made for the track. I'm still 4-lug, so it's a bit of a challenge to find something suitable...

More soon!

[kingston]

Just a couple of minor updates today. I've been having a blast driving Siobhan around the city, and while she's really meant for the track, I've enjoyed the snot outta hooning with her on the street :)

I mounted the DTM cluster in a spare housing I had:

Can't wait to get the rest of the gauges, 5 weeks & 5 days from now, I'll be ordering them, including the Stack Clubman tach.

At least my parts shelves are getting a little less crammed full of stuff! A lot of the parts still in boxes are for my DD build, which will have it's own build thread pretty soon. :)

First HPDE of the year for me is April 26th & 27th. Cannot friggin' WAIT!

More soon...